Aussie Disneyland Planners come on in and lets plan together :)

[darren123]

Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year to you all.

Only 1 more day

Awesome Have a great trip
We have only 33 days left to go

 

[marvel]

merry Xmas everyone and happy planning. Wish I had a trip to plan, come on Santa!!

Have a great holiday to all those travelling soon.

 

[kylieh]

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hope Santa is good to you all

 

[mareeld86]

Merry Christmas everyone Hope you all have a wonderful day!!

 

[rossip]

Yes merry christmas and happy new year everyone and for those travelling soon have a marvellous time !

 

[ColB]

Just returned from a 3 week DLR and WDW trip. Feels like we have already had Christmas.

Stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and the newly renovated rooms at the DLH. Had an awesome time, will post a trip report tomorrow.

Flew V Australia, an excellent carrier, apart from check-in at LAX, crazy long lines. Upgraded to Premium Economy, though on $900 tickets, don't know why??? But who is complaining..

Did the Fantasmic Dessert Party, the Wishes Desert Party and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. To make them worthwhile, you need to prepare for them.

Also did Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Kennedy Space Center, Islands of Adventure and LA.

Used National Rental Car using Virgin Blue discount, had no problems at all and a great car on three occasions.

Any questions just ask.

 

[ehsmum]

Sounds like a great trip, ColB! Looking forward to your trip report as we are going to the same places (plus a few more) on our trip in June .

 

[aussietravellers]

We just got back too, ColB, we may have been on the same plane in premium ecom too

We had two wonderful weeks at Disneyland at Grand Californian hotel, which was just fantastic! We did do a few day tours to Legoland, San Diego Zoo and also an LA/Hollywood tour.

We used the 14 day passes from expedia although I bought an annual pass. I have to say it was just fantastic and I can recommend it to anybody who is going for more than a week. The deluxe pass is only a little more than the 14 day pass but the bonus is the discounts on the food and merchandise and some of the tours and the pass more than paid for itself. There was a special for 20% off merchandise whilst we were there then the discount off food was either 10 or 15% and it was also available at ESPN, Rainforest Cafe restaurants etc and there was also a 10% discount I think it was, off anything bought at other downtown disney shops. We did the holiday tour too so also received a discount off that. If we do decide to go back again within 12 months (which I do not think we will as we are going to NY and WDW in September/Oct next year). You can also use the pass for accommodation to get the AP rate, you will need to book with Disney direct or a disney authorised travel agent like Magical Journeys or Dreams Unlimited Travel. The travel agent we used through yourmagicaljourneys.com actually had a cheaper rate for us with the disney special fall rate than the AP rate, so we went with that, but a lot of the time the AP rate is cheaper. Also you can also post the dates you want to go here on disboards and somebody with an AP (like me ) can go to the disney website and check the AP rates for the dates you are going. If you are booked with an AP rate (you don't have to have the AP to book the rate, you only need the AP when you check in) Then when you arrive at Disneyland, just leave your bags at the hotel and go to the disneyland park with your voucher that you print out at home straight to the gate and they will give you a ticket. You then take the ticket to the AP place inside the park (anytime that day, but we went straight there as there wasn't much of a queue) and they will take your photo and give you your AP. You can then enjoy the park for the day or go back to your hotel and check in.

Another little tip. I have to say that the prices in some of those brochures (creative tours etc) that you get from travel agents here in Australia are SO expensive. As ours was a last minute trip, we booked through Magical Journeys, so it was all done via email, they are an american company who just book disney holidays and they do the disney vacation packages or just the accomodation only. The rate that I got was the same as the rate booked direct with Disney although booking with Disney yourself would be the same, just so much cheaper than booking through a travel agent here. Also booking the accommodation only then tickets seperately saved us over $2000, close to $3000 off the package (with accommodation, tickets) You still get all of the magic mornings staying in a disney hotel, but you do not get the one early entry to toontown and dont get the priority seating to a show or the pin. But for the savings we got booking accomodation only with disney, it was not worth the extra for the seating at one show or early entry to toontown.

Anyway we had such a wonderful holiday. There were so many Aussies at Disneyland, for the first week and a half we almost heard more Aussie accents than american accents But the disney addiction continues, now starts the planning of our disney world trip in sept/oct, the plane tickets are booked and paid for we know we are staying at animal kingdom lodge and at the beach club (doing a split stay) as we love both of those resorts, now to work out wether we will do a three night disney cruise before our stay at disney world. Decisions decisions Has anybody done a disney cruise? Would love to hear.

Oh, one more little tip. If anybody has RACQ RACV, NRMA etc. Make sure you take your card with you. Many places offer AAA discount (like grayline tours, who do a lot of the tours). Those cards have a little AAA savings symbol on the card, so we used ours for the tours we did with grayline tours and got the AAA discount (which I think was 10% off), which is a great saving!

Hope everybody had a Merry Christmas

 

[aussietravellers]

I have been having a brief look back through this thread, but it is getting so long, so am just going to ask the question.

Already planning our trip for next Sept/Oct and will be going to New York during that trip and have never been before. I am sure that I saw other Aussies on here and their hotels in NY. Can anybody recommend one, there are just so many, we are looking a midtown area (maybe times square) for a small family, one child but may be travelling with friends and they will have two kids.

Any suggestions?

 

[ehsmum]

Hi aussietravellers, we were discussing it in another thread - MsShuttergirl's trip report I think. Yep just looked, it was that thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2315883&page=3.

I've gone ahead and booked Radio City Apartments. The location is great and the price is reasonable http://www.radiocityapts.com/

 

[mareeld86]

YAY 45 Days until I leave woot woot cant wait!!!!

 

[darren123]

Know what you mean I am starting to very excited only 20 days for us
See on the news today USA the coldest winter in years

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi fellow Aussie Disney fans! My name is Sue and I am very happy to meet you!!!

I joined up to this site quite some time ago as we had a holiday planned for March 09, but due to illness, we were unable to go and holidayed on the Gold Coast instead! This time however, we are all set and well and cannot wait til November!!!

My hubby and I have been to DL previously, but that was way back in 1998 so seems like a life time ago.............!!!

We will be travelling this time with our daughter who will be 13 and boy oh boy is she excited!!!

Right, we are waiting on confirmation from our local travel agency re quotes etc. I have been to the Qantas site and they do have fares available right now through to the end of the year and are on special, although it depends what you yourself would consider a discount!

Our itinerary is as follows.............

Tues 30th November flying to LA
Going from there to San Fran for 3 nights
Flying to Vegas for 3 nights
Driving to Anaheim then staying for 21 nights

We will be going to DL on Christmas Day and I also get double the excitement as my Birthday is the 23rd so will be at DL for that too!

We are doing all the usuals DL, DCA, SD Zoo, SD Seaworld, Uni Studios etc.

There are a couple of things I would like some info on if you can help!

I was thinking of buying us DL annual passes. They are not too much more than a 14 day pass and will include discounts. They also have no block out days, so we can go whenever we like as we will be in Anaheim for 3 weeks. If we buy 14 day passes, we won't be able to use them for a whole week we are there! Also, can anyone tell me what sort of discount is applied at the DL hotels when using an annual pass?

Also, I am doing my head in trying to find somewhere to stay in Anaheim. I have read just about every review on Trip Advisor and am somewhat overwhelmed by how different peoples views are. If someone has a good place to recommend, please let me know!!!

Thanks everyone and I look forward to many more posts and looking forward to reading yours!!!

Yours in all things Minnie
Sue

 

[aussietravellers]

Hi Sue, your trip sounds AMAZING, how exciting!

I bought an AP when we were there, it was fantastic, particularly as there were not any block out dates during our time. There was also a special with 20% off on merchandise too. We found it to be a great thing and the pass paid for itself with the savings on food and merchandise. I was the only one in the family that got the AP though as we were only there for 14 nights, the others got a 14 day pass from Expedia and with the 14 day pass, it expires on 14th day after it has first been used, so if you are there for longer than 14 nights then the AP would probably be better for you particularly when you add on the dining and shopping discounts that you get. We went to the park on the last day and the 14 day passes didn't work! But we hadn't used 14 days, we had done day trips to the Zoo, Legoland and LA/Hollywood so hadn't been to the parks that day. They did look that up and were let in for the day, it was a pain though as when we went in and out of another park we had to go through the same thing as the pass comes up as expired, but they just overrode that.

With the AP I purchase it online from disneyland.com and once paid you are emailed a voucher, once you have the voucher, you can enter the barcode from that voucher as your AP into your registration on disneyland.com You will then be allowed into the AP area of the disneyland website and will be able to see all of the discounts available to AP holders, including the prices for the accommodation at Disney hotels. I am not sure how far in advance you can buy the pass online before attending the park, but I think it is a long way. When you get to Disneyland, you just take that voucher to the turnstyles and they will give you a pass, you then take that pass to the AP building and they will print up you proper AP with photo. It was all very easy. I booked our hotel (Grand Californian) through a disney specialist travel agent in the US ( www.yourmagicaljourneys.com ), so she looked at the AP rates and the special that was going at the time and the special was actually a better rate than the AP rate, so we booked with that room only rate.

I am not sure how far in advance the AP rates are put up on the Disneyland website but I am happy to look for you if you give me the dates you were wanting accommodation.

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Ooooohhhhhh...............thanks so much for your reply aussietravellers! I am thriving on any information I can get at the moment. We are actually in Anaheim for 21 nights starting on the 6th and last night will be the 27th of December. I have done a little more searching, and I do think I will get the AP's. They are around $80 per person more than a 14 day pass, but I dare say we will be at DL every day we are there.................even if it just to ride Haunted Mansion one more time!
If we bought the 14 day passes, we would have to wait a week before we could use them...............I don't think that we could wait that long being right near the park and not being able to go!!!

I am certainly doing my homework as I want this holiday to be the trip of a life time!!! I have even bought a copy of the Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2010 edition and have read it and re read it!

We are very big..............no huge Disney fans the daughter and I. Dad is not as into it as us, but he is a big kid at heart just like me! Put it this way, I have 20 Mickey/Minnie watches and my daughter collects all things Minnie. We actually have a "Disney" room!!!

So, if you would be willing to look up the dates above for me, I will appreciate it very, very much. We are still no closer to deciding where to stay. I would love to stay at one of the Disney hotels, but have read in lots of places that are over priced for what you get. What is your experince of the Grand Calfornian?

So, will look forward to your reply.

Cheers and thanks again.( I am soooooo glad I found this thread!!! )

Sue

 

[aussietravellers]

Hi Sue,

They only have the rates for AP up until the end of April so I've given you some prices from now until the end or April, this month and part of next month seem to have the cheapest rates, then more expensive in March and April, but this is just to give you an idea. But to give you an idea, prices for the AP rate for a Standard room at Paradise Pier is between now and April vary from $139 to $284 per night (they are a little more for a view or concierge room). $129 to $324 for a std room at Disneyland hotel and at Grand Californian from $179 to $450 for a standard room depending on the date.

We loved the Grand Californian. The location to the parks is just fantastic and it is a beautiful hotel with very friendly cast members. We would not hesitate to stay there again.

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi again aussietravellers!!! Thanks for looking that up for me! Wow, there certainly is a big difference between prices. We will look into a little further I think. We have heard good reports on the Candy Cane Inn if you have had any experience with that one, or the Ho Jo seems to be a popular one too. The last time we were there we stayed at the Hyatt, but it is too far down the road from the parks and we want somewhere this time within walking distance!

I just don't what to do at this point! I am waiting on the quote to come back from the travel agents to see what they have come up with, but it seems the longer you leave it the better the discount re places to stay. However, if we leave it too late, we run the risk of missing out esecially as we will be staying for Christmas.

Anyone else have any suggestions for accommodation?

Cheers and thnks again for the advice!!!

 

[aussiegirls]

Minnie Sue, the HOJO is awesome. We stayed there in October and I have just made another booking for December 2010.

It is a great hotel. The walk is very short. Some people say 10 mins but I don't think it took us more than about 5, and that was with a 6 year old. It is also an easy walk, nice and flat and straight and there is lots to look at while you are walking so it didn't bother us in the slightest.

There is also the ART for transport if you don't fancy the walk. We bought a weekly ticket for the ART and jumped on it if it happened to be there when we were leaving but otherwise didn't really wait a lot for it. The drive on the ART is short. About 2 or 3 mins to get to Disney and on the way back the HOJO is the last stop but the trip is still only about 10 mins or so.

I looooove the HOJO and the prices are very good for the quality of the hotel. Personally now having stayed there I would not spend the extra cash to stay onsite. I figure that it can't be that much better than the HOJO and the distance is just the same (unless you are at GCH). I'd much rather spend my extra money on shopping

xxx

 

[platypus67]

Welcome Minnie Sue. Sounds like a great trip you are planning. I agree with aussiegirls re Hojos. My DD14 and I stayed there in October and will definately be staying there again. The only other place I've stayed that I would go back to is BW Anaheim Inn.

With regard to booking a hotel you can always make a reservation now and if a better deal comes up somewhere else you can always cancel. Both Hojos and BW let you cancel without penalty up to 48 hours prior to check in.

We also leave on Nov 30th to fly to LA but will be heading straight on to WDW this time. I'm waiting to book our flights to LA until later in the year just in case a better price comes up.

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi everyone! Thnks so much to Aussiegirls and Platypus67 for your comments! I look forward to jumping on the computer so much now so I can see if there are any new posts in the thread!

Well, it sounds like we might go with HoJo!!! I must admit I have not really read a bad report for there and I know the travel agency we are using has it as one of their properties that is available.

I am just waiting to hear back from them with the quote. More than likely ( and from what I have read on this site! ) I will book everything myself. I have been doing my research for months now, so am quite confident of getting it all done myself! You all have been so helpful as the only thing I was not too sure about was the Anaheim accommodation. I have found somewhere nice to stay for the San Fran stay and we are staying at Treasure Island in Vegas. We stayed at the Luxor last time we were there and wanted to try somewhere a bit further down the strip!

Aussiegirls, if we are both staying at the HoJo at the same time, we will have to keep in touch!!!

Thanks again and I look forward to chatting again soon!